secretary of defense. >>> also tonight, housing boom. big news numbers. and how more people are building smarter for the changing american family. >> hi! how are you? >>> strange twists, in the story of football powerhouseman tie te'o and the girlfriend who never was. >>> and wide awake. imagine waking up during surgery, feeling everything. you can't said a word. >> i was as awake as i am right now. it was terrifying. >> it happens to thousands of people. and tonight, there's a new way to make sure it never happens to you. >>> good evening. tonight, we begin with the american hostages taken captive by terrorists with links to al qaeda. it has been a day of chaos, details still pouring in about a deadly rescue operation, helicopters circling overhead and a frightening scene below. it happened in the north african nation of algeria and abc's chief global affairs correspondent martha raddatz spent the day with the defense secretary, leon panetta, in italy, as he was tracking every new development. martha? >> reporter: diane, this is a very fluid situation bu